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How Long Does PSA Take to Grade Cards in 2026?

September 29, 2026 / 7 min read / MintGrade Team

Your cards are in the mail, the tracking says delivered, and now the waiting starts. So how long does PSA take to grade cards? It depends on the tier you paid for, and on a queue that has been unusually long this year.

How long does PSA take for each tier?

Here are PSA's estimated turnaround times and prices as of September 2026, from PSA's services page. The weeks column is our simple math (business days divided by 5).

PSA's cheaper Value tiers are paused, so Standard is the slowest (and cheapest) option you can buy right now. Cards worth more than $10,000 use PSA's separate Premium options. For the full bill, including shipping and upcharges, see our guide to PSA grading cost.

What do business days mean in real weeks?

A business day is a weekday that is not a holiday. There are 5 in a normal week, so 90 business days is 18 weeks, not 90 days. That one detail clears up a lot of "is PSA late?" worry.

Example 1: a Standard order that starts its clock on October 5, 2026

1. Divide by 5: 90 business days is 18 weeks, and 100 business days is 20 weeks.
2. Count only weekdays from Monday, October 5, 2026. Business day 90 lands on Monday, February 8, 2027. Business day 100 lands on Monday, February 22, 2027.
3. Add any holidays PSA observes in that stretch. Late fall and winter have several big ones, so both dates slide later.
4. Add the days your box spends in the mail each way, plus the gap between Arrived and Order Prep.

So a Standard order that starts its clock in early October is estimated to finish around February, and your slabs arrive a bit after that.

Example 2: the same start date at Express

1. Divide by 5: 20 to 30 business days is 4 to 6 weeks.
2. Counting weekdays from Monday, October 5, 2026, business day 20 is Monday, November 2, and business day 30 is Monday, November 16.
3. Add shipping both ways and the Arrived to Order Prep gap, as before.

Same card, same start date, about three months sooner. That speed has a price, which we get to below.

What do PSA's order stages mean?

Your order page shows a row of stages. Names have shifted a little over the years (QA Checks used to be called QA2), but here is what each one means:

Grades usually appear in your account before the box ships, so you may know your results while the slabs are still at PSA.

Why do PSA turnaround times change?

PSA's estimates depend on how many cards are ahead of yours, and 2026 has been a big year for the queue.

• The backlog. After a spike in submissions, PSA paused its Value tiers effective June 2, 2026. The queue kept growing anyway, to nearly 14 million cards in June. PSA launched a public backlog tracker, and at the September 22, 2026 update the backlog was reported at about 9 million cards, down from 9.9 million on September 8.
• The Value finish line. PSA says Value tiers reopen once the backlog falls below 5 million cards. No date, just a target.
• New tiers. On September 14, 2026, PSA added its Standard tier and renamed Regular to Priority and Walk-Through to Premier. Older articles quoting "Regular" times are out of date.
• More capacity. PSA opened a grading facility in Frankfurt, Germany, on September 15, 2026, so collectors in Europe can now send cards to PSA without shipping them overseas.
• Your own cards. An unusual card that PSA has to research can sit longer at Research & ID than a common one.

How do you track a PSA order?

1. My Orders on psacard.com. Sign in and open the order to see its current stage, and later your grades.
2. The PSA app. Its App Store listing says you can follow your cards through the grading process and get updates as the order moves.
3. Email. PSA emails you when the order is entered for processing, when label descriptions are ready for review, when grades are available and when the order ships.
4. Your carrier. Once it ships, the return tracking number takes over.
5. The backlog tracker. It will not show your order, but it shows whether the whole line is speeding up or slowing down.

Can you get PSA grading done faster?

Yes, if you pay for a faster tier. Here is what each upgrade from Standard costs per card, and roughly how much sooner it should finish, using PSA's prices and estimates as of September 2026:

Put another way, Priority costs about $5.00 per card for each week saved ($20.00 divided by 4), and Express about $9.93 ($139.01 divided by 14). After Express, each extra week gets much pricier.

Two things can change the math:

• Your card's value may pick the tier for you. Each PSA tier has a max insured value. A card worth $2,000 after grading already needs Express ($2,500 limit), so the speed comes with the tier you would need anyway.
• Another grader may be faster for less. As of September 2026, CGC Standard costs $55 per card with an estimated 10 business days and a $3,000 limit. Whether a CGC slab suits your card is a different question, covered in PSA vs CGC.

If you are not in a rush, the cheapest move is to use the wait well. Pre-screen your next batch with our guide on how to grade Pokemon cards at home, and only send the cards that pass the worth-grading check.

The short version

As of September 2026, PSA takes about 18 to 20 weeks at Standard and about 4 to 6 weeks at Express, counted from Order Prep, plus holidays and shipping. The queue is shrinking but still long, and Value tiers stay paused until it drops below 5 million cards. The MintGrade app, coming soon, will estimate a card's likely grade from a photo, so you can decide which cards are worth the wait.

MintGrade is made by Viral Labs and is not affiliated with any other app, price guide or grading company named here.

MintGrade guides explain how grading works and help you decide what to submit. Only a grading company can assign a grade, and prices change daily, so check recent sold listings before you buy, sell or submit.